5:15 AM I meet Stan and Tommy Climer, at a gas station to load up on ice and drinks for the day.
We arrive at the ramp early enough to get all the tackle and equipment ready and tuned. They discus game plans and strategies. Both have similar ideas just different attack methods.
6:30 AM We have arrived at a spot Stan had to settled on fishing, since the first two spots he had planned where already occupied by other anglers.
We get a TEXT saying " Start Fishing" Stan says " Here we go" and makes his first cast. He starts off using a 1/2 Chart/Blue rattle trap. He's throwing it around shallow stick up's and grass on a main lake point.
He uses the next 37 minutes to work on drop off's in shallow water. He shows me bubbles on the surface and tells me, about how the water is turning over. The fish should be shallow with going on since it will push up the bait fish looking for oxygen.
6:57 After MANY...MANY hang ups and TREE/BRUSH bass Stan get's his first bass in the boat. A nice .7 lb Lewisville Monster. I laugh and ask why the fish didn't put up more of a fight. He looks at me and ask if I really want to go there?????
The fish came on the rattle trap in 2.5 feet of water in shallow stick ups.
7:08 Anglers are already moving around the lake frequently, and Stan tells me he likes seeing that. It means there fish are gone he says.
7:18 Another rattle trap bass, a .10 lber. 3 feet of water also around shallow stick ups.
9:22 Stan has used the last 2 hours and 4 minutes to try and find bass in shallow stick ups around the lake. He has attacked the shallow points and cuts from all angles and a variety of lures. The lures he used were ( Xcite bait company Swimbait 3.5 inch, Green pumpkin tube weighted with a 1/16 weight. Crankbait sexyshad/ 1/2 ounce Jig watermelon/chart.
He has now moved to the old Lake Dallas dam and starts casting a Deep Crankbait along rip rap. It's a 10-12 foot diver and he's in 9.4 feet of water. Craw fish Pattern.
There is bait fish all over the dam and out in open water. He ask me if I see anything wrong with the picture. I tell him no what, he tells me that he has yet to see bass busting the top and that's a sign there not suspending in deep water.
10:20 He moves to the out side of the 121 marina and starts fishing the Chunk Rock bank. I can tell the wheels are turning do to the fact he's rapidly changing baits and colors. With no luck on the rocks he heads to the out tires at the marina and fish the wind break inside and out. He attacks the docks and shallow steep bank on the inner edge.
He tells me he knows he has to find shallow drop offs with good cover on the upper shelve. This would turn out to be a TOURNAMENT BREAKER
10:55 Stan has drove around for 35 minutes trying to locate his ideal spot. he ran up on multiple location's , but said he had no good gut feeling about them.
He finally finds a good spot along a bridge, he fishes the rip rap all along the bridge with his Jig and Crankbait. He tries to pick apart every nook and cranny, trying to catch a bass waiting on a ambush. I have got to completely change up my approach he states.
12:25 PM He starts tying on small soft plastics, and various creature baits.
He trolls over to a Shallow Main Lake point, as he gets closer he see's the point extends about 75 yard int to the lake, it has one big flat on top of it with water in a foot or less of water, with both sided dropping off to 4 feet water. The flat has brush and stick ups on it.
He makes a few cast to the drop and gets some Perch Bites, If you ever get Perch Bites, bass will be around he states.
I know what they want, he switches to a Wave worm, Baby Bass
12:35 FIRST CAST with the wave worm and he feels a light tap. With a slow reel down and fast hoot set, he sticks a chunk. After a short battle the fish is landed and is a short fatty, weighing 3.08 lbs. Stan keeps his composure sticks the bass in the live well, and starts back fishing.
12:37 The very next cast he sticks another fish a good looking 1.5 lber. " I got them know" he tells me. That fish also came on the wave worm.
12:40 We get a Text update and see a low 2 lber is in the money. Stan tells me we need to go and weigh this fish in the 12 O'clock hour. I think people will flood the place the last hour.
12:55 We arrive at the Big Bass Tour Weigh-In location and Stan begs his fish and gets in the weigh-in line.
After a fast check of the fish the weigh master calls Stan to the Stage, the fish jumps between 3.07 and 3.09 before it settles to 3.08.
After a few more angler run across the scales, Stan finds out he has taking a check for 5th PLACE for the 12 O-Clock hour.
1:16 We make a run to a marina close to the weigh-in site, with only 34 minutes till final line closes. Stan starts workinf fast around tire reefs and deep brush piles with a Baby Bass worm.
1:36 We make are way to the slow drop off near a old road bed. Stan has now pulled put his Sexy Shad crank bait and starts working a brush pile.
After a few cast, his rod loads up and he pulls the bass free from the brush. It's a NICE 1.15 lber. He put the fish in the well and keeps casting. "I'm going to take it up there and just see" He says.
1:47 With no more luck we run to the weigh-in. We get there and everybody and there brother is pulling out 2.5 to 3 pound fish. Stan drops his back in the water and tells him to get his grandpa for tomorrow.
2:00 DAY ONE OF THE BBT TOURNAMENT ENDS AND SO DOES STAN'S " DAY ON THE WATER"
DAY ONE IN REVIEW
TOTAL WEIGHT: 7.05 lbs
BIG BASS.......(3.08) before conversion into ounce's ( 3.01/25-)
Stan, thank you very much for being apart of "Day On The Water".
Stan was put in a tough position, in that he was trying to upgrade his "Day On The Water" stringer while trying to go for BIG BASS. Your mind frame changes when you are in a tournament like the Big Bass Tour Tournament, and you have to adjust accordingly.
By the end of DAY ONE, Stan had gotten the fish figured out, and was on some nice chunks before the time ran out. If the tournament would have been 1 more hour longer. He would have cashed another check and probably had won the hour.
Stan, is one of those guys who can be kidding around and joking, but pick up on the littlest of details on the lake and surroundings. He has a uncanny knack of ciphering through dead water, and locating stacks of fish.
He represents his sponsors well, and never meets a stranger.
Also don't think the 5 fish i listed where all Stan caught through out the day. I was busy working with the tourney's directors about what we could and couldn't do to document every 1 lber he caught ( all fish were weigh though). They were more than gracious to us and mad a point to announce us every time we were at weigh in or around the Weigh-In site.
We arrived at the ramp around 5:15 Am and retied most of our rods, Mine from last Tuesday night and Stan from DAY ONE.
We go over our plan and talk with Tommy and Tony Climer about there approach to the day also.
6:10am we launch and head to the main lake point, where Stan earned a 5th place check the day before.
6:45 We get there and the wind has moved from SE to NE over night. It has shut the fishing off in that area for right now. We know if we wait it out they will turn on sometime.
We attack the drop offs on both side catching a ton of small fish. I finally get a good solid keeper off the area Stan found and stuck it in the live well. With 19 minutes left till the 10 O-Clock hour is over, we get a TEXT saying there has been NO fish weighed in. Stan tells me to strap everything down, we need to get the fish to scales. We get there and when the dust clears it's a 2.92 lb beauty that was good enough for a 5th place check.
We spent the rest of the day duplicating Stan's pattern all over the lake, catching fish every where we went.
About 11:30 Stan is throwing a Sexy Shad crank bait when a MONSTER LOADS up on the lure. He tells me get the net and he starts getting fired up. I see the fish battling Stan like crazy. He get's in the boat and WOW is all I can say. It was a beast....Take a look below.
We catch MANY more 1 and 1.5 lbers. Stan figured out on DAY ONE, the fish wanted something with a little white or of colored Chart. in it.
Stan, did a awesome job of finding fish both days.
His Day Two total would have been around the 5-6 pound mark.
Man I'm on this site 24/7.....well I'm on it a lot though.
I will not go to sleep till probably around 1am or so. Got to get everything inline since I will not be back home tomorrow night. I'm staying in Lewisville and me and the wife are going to there event Saturday night. There will be a write up tomorrow night about day ONE of Stan's "Day On the Water". So sleep will be at a minimum this weekend.
Stan once again, congrats on the check yesterday and GOOD JOB locating fish on a Blue Bird day with little to no wind. The bite was tough, but you found and caught fish.
Stan once again, congrats on the check yesterday and GOOD JOB locating fish on a Blue Bird day with little to no wind. The bite was tough, but you found and caught fish.
Casey, Great job as usual on the Day on the Water. I am sure you saw first hand why I have had so much fun team fishing with Stan the last few years. He is just a natural angler that picks up on little things that a lot of people miss. Not only that he is a blast to fish with but also very competitive and works his tail off. Glad to see you both cash a check also.
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